Found 20 blog entries tagged as real estate broker.

 

Between Covid and all the people relocating to the Austin area we are seeing an increase in offers on our listings from buyers who are making offers sight unseen. First off let me explain when we say sight unseen that means the buyer has not seen the home in person.

Whenever we have an offer on a home from buyers where all the decision makers have not seen the home in person our clients ask me what they should do. Sellers are always worried a buyer will make an offer sight unseen and then back out prior to closing.

When we are giving advice about sight unseen offers there isn’t a simple, one size fits all answer and here are some of the things we talk about with our clients to help make a great decision.

Is Anyone Else…

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99% of the time being a Real Estate Broker specializing in an area is a huge positive. Understanding the different buyer profiles in our area, differences in the types of homes and what buyers are willing to pay for is an advantage to both myself and the clients I represent.

1% of the time it works to my disadvantage because I know something about a home that will be seen as a negative to buyers. I always want to be upfront and honest with our clients. Over the years I have found I attract savvy clients who appreciate being told the truth.

When you are interviewing Brokers to be your listing agent you will be tempted to hire the agent who recommends the highest price. It’s human nature that you will like the agent who tells you the highest…

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Many times I will hear someone say “The Realtor made me price my home for $500,000” and that’s not the way I look at it.

The approach we take when talking about pricing for your home is we are a consultant. Although I certainly can tell you what price I recommend or I can tell you what I would do if I was in your situation my job isn’t to make that decision for you. My job is to give you so much information and advice that together we can arrive at the best decision for your situation.

Most agents only have 1 pricing strategy but in reality there are 3 ways you can price your house.

Aspirational Pricing

The first way to price your home is what we call “Aspirational Pricing.” This is a strategy where we are priced well above the…

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Most of our friends and clients are pretty savvy and can sniff out when something sounds too good to be true. When a friend saw another Realtor’s advertisement guaranteeing multiple offers, he asked me how someone can do that and what’s the catch?

When you hear someone say they will get you multiple offers you probably imagine that means your home will sell for over asking price. What would you think if it really means you will get multiple low-ball offers below market value? I can’t tell what you would think, but when I explained what is really going to happen my friend felt like the advertising is misleading.

Guaranteeing multiple offers is pretty easy. In fact, any Realtor can guarantee you multiple offers.

Here’s how it works…

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It’s only January and we are already seeing hand-wringing in our neighborhood about property taxes and the companies that will protest on your behalf. Protesting your property taxes in Williamson and Travis Counties will be even more challenging this year.

Just a reminder, if you engaged one of the tax protesting companies last year you probably signed a form giving them authorization to protest for you every year. That means if your plans are to protest on your own this year or you plan to hire a different company you will want to cancel the service with the company you previously hired. Otherwise they will protest on your behalf and you will get billed if they are successful.

Something new this year is at least one of the protesting…

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Because we hold so many open houses, we see the same potential buyers over and over. They often tell me their struggles and frustrations about their home buying process.

Many of these struggles and frustrations are self-inflicted due to how they choose their Realtor. Buyers often think all Realtors are the same. As a result, when buying a home they will work with their friend (everyone has a friend in real estate) or hire an agent based on which agent gives you the largest rebate.

Especially in a low inventory real estate market like ours this is a huge mistake because you are not getting the most important things you need from a Realtor which are perspective and advice.

The average Realtor only sells about 1-2 homes per year. As a…

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If you can’t decide between selling your home now or waiting until next year let me give you a 3rd option…what’s called a delayed entry pocket listing.

We are contacted almost every day by buyers and other Realtors asking us what homes we have coming on the market soon. Often a buyer will see one of our homes that isn’t a good fit and ask us what we will be selling that would better work for their family. A pocket listing allows us to keep your home in mind in case someone contacts us that would be a good fit for your home.

What if we had a cash buyer for your home or someone with a flexible move in date? Would you be willing to sell now if they paid the price you want for your home?

A delayed entry pocket listing means we have an agreement…

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Almost every time someone invites me to their home to talk about putting it on the market, they say they have a “friend in real estate” they are considering hiring as their listing agent. It’s not surprising; with 13,160 members of the Austin Board of Realtors everyone knows several Realtors. In fact, if you don’t have any friends in real estate, I’d be worried you didn’t have any friends.

As one of my friends says it’s called Show Business not Show Friends for a reason. Here are a few ways hiring your friend to sell your largest financial asset can cost you big money.

Understanding The Contract

Would you believe the average real estate agent may only sell 2-3 homes per year? This is why before you hire any agent you should ask how many homes…

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